How Many Calories In A Pound Of Fat?

The word calorie has almost gotten a bad rap in recent years. Many people, in an effort to lose weight, are constantly shuffling them, cutting them, and eliminating them from their diets. A calorie is actually a unit of energy. The scientific definition of calorie is the amount of energy it takes to increase one gram of water by one degree Celsius.

Enough with all the science lessons. Many people just want to know how many calories are in a pound of fat. Knowing that information gives you an idea of how many calories you’ll have to cut and burn to fit into your favorite pair of blue jeans. One pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories. Experts say that people who count calories and find this sort of information valuable stand a much better chance at meeting their weight loss goals. So to lose one pound of fat you have to burn or cut 3,500 calories from your diet by creating a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit is the difference between the calories you consume and the calories you burn/cut. So let’s say you want to lose one pound in a week. That would mean you would have to create a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day for seven days. You could restrict your calories by 200 and then burn 300 off at the gym.